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Freelance
Success Story I liberated myself from corporate life at the end of 1993. I'd been desperately unhappy in my corporate writing position for two or three years; plus, I just plain wanted out of corporate life. So, I did something I wouldn't necessarily recommend to anyone else -- I leapt off the cliff and trusted that I would succeed as a freelance writer. I set up an office in my living room and got to work. I'm single and childless, so I didn't have anyone else to consider in this decision -- but neither did I have any other source of income. Rather cavalierly, I decided that if this didn't work, I'd just get another job. However, the Universe has supported my decision, and seven years later, I'm still freelancing. I did have a plan, though. I wanted to write for magazines, but I knew that establishing myself would take time. So I decided that I would also write business materials, such as brochures and newsletters, and I would also proofread and copyedit. During the first few years, the business writing kept me afloat. Contacts from my last corporate job brought in work, and at the very beginning my former boss hired me to write the employee news magazine for two months until my replacement could be found. Along the way I met publishers and editors for whom I still write today. I feel fortunate to have made those connections, since they have brought me a great deal of work and friendships, not to mention allowing me to learn and write about a wide variety of subjects. I've written for print and online publications about everything from meditation to Y2K to jewelry design. My real writing love is personal essays, so I've started writing more of them as time allows. WNIN 88.3, the public radio station in Evansville, Ind., broadcast several of my radio essays, which I recorded for them. I hope to someday have my radio essays broadcast on National Public Radio. I'm also a published poet and just enough of a ham to occasionally take part in poetry readings. My first business was called The Word Worker. But when I moved from southern Indiana to Tucson at the end of 1999, I changed the name to Clariti Communications (http://www.clariticom.com) because I wanted to reflect a wider perspective in my work. My slogan is "A transformative and original approach to the ordinary." As I search for clarity in my life, I'm expanding not only the kind of work I do, but also my overall view of life. I'm trying to give up what I think I know (for example, that finding work has to be a struggle or that my finances will remain precarious) and act upon what I know to be true -- namely, that I am divinely supported in all that I do. This doesn't mean that I don't do my part in searching out work, meeting deadlines, and so on, but simply that I don't have to live my life in fear. This philosophy is not something you'll find in Writer's Digest, but it has been working for me, and the more I trust in it, the more it manifests in my life. I plan to never have a "real job" again. The freedom not only to do the work I love but also to explore my life in a way I never could in corporate life is well worth the challenges presented by living life as a freelancer. Barbara can be reached by e-mail at: barbara@clariticom.com. Copyright © 1999-2002 Barbara Stahura. All rights reserved. Column originally appeared in Writers Weekly, 2000. Reprinted with permission. |
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